LEWISTON, Maine — The 40-year-old man suspected of committing mass homicide right here is lifeless, officers mentioned, concluding a large manhunt that had lots of of legislation enforcement officers swarming everywhere in the area.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills confirmed to reporters inside City Hall late Friday evening that Robert Card was discovered lifeless and Maine Public Safety Department Commissioner Michael Sauschuck mentioned the person died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Card is accused of killing 18 folks and injuring 13 others at a bowling alley and pub within the metropolis.
“I stand here tonight to simply report that the Maine State Police have located the body of Robert Card in Lisbon. He is dead. I called President Biden to inform him about this news,” Mills mentioned. “But this discovery is entirely thanks to the hundreds of local, county, state and federal law enforcement members from all over and people from other states as well.”
Mills mentioned she was “breathing a sigh of relief” that Card was now not a menace to anybody.
Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline mentioned the folks of his metropolis can “breathe a sigh of relief.”
“I know I speak for the entire city when I say that the men and women of Lewiston Police Department, Maine State Police, and the many other law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation have our profound gratitude,” he mentioned in an announcement to the Herald. “Now, it’s time to take a breath, begin to mourn our dead, and try to heal.”
Sauschuck mentioned Card was discovered at round 7:45 p.m. alongside the Androscoggin River in Lisbon Falls however didn’t verify the precise location of the person’s physique.
“I can confirm that it’s an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” he mentioned.
The announcement comes after 1000’s of Mainers have been cleared simply hours earlier than from a shelter-in-place order as legislation enforcement continued their seek for Card.
Lockdowns have been lifted in Lewiston, Auburn, Bowdoin, Monmouth, and Lisbon as officers mentioned they have been gearing up for an expansive evidence-gathering and manhunt operation that included lots of of legislation enforcement personnel nationwide.
Authorities issued this week an arrest warrant for eight counts of homicide for Card, the person they mentioned allegedly entered Just-In-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant Wednesday and opened fireplace.
Sauschuck mentioned the choice to rescind the shelter-in-place order got here after an inside dialogue the place officers weighed the professionals and cons of communities having to place their lives on pause.
“Are we doing more harm than good by keeping people away from these clinics and their doctors and in schools?” Sauschuck at City Hall. “And while this is still absolutely a dangerous situation without question, we’ve got to make recommendations and ask the people that we serve as the people who we protect, to be vigilant.”
But because the orders have been lifted, Sauschuck mentioned legislation enforcement had not seen Card within the final two days, telling reporters on the time that his whereabouts have been unknown.
More than 500 ideas and leads had already are available in to police as of early Friday, he mentioned.
“But again, in the stack of that 500-plus, you may have somebody that says ‘hey, we see somebody that looks like that.’ So we have not,” he mentioned at a day briefing with reporters.
Divers searched the Androscoggin River and legislation enforcement used sonars, remote-operated tools, and aerial automobiles like planes or helicopters. An influence firm that operates two dams within the space deliberate to regulate the move of water to assist divers see extra clearly, Sauschuck mentioned.
“We certainly don’t want to wait too long because the river is a big piece of this, the car was located there, evidence is located in the vehicle or right there along the shores of the Androscoggin River,” Sauschuck mentioned. “So that’s stuff that we want to make sure that we’re checking and we’re using the resources that we have available.”
Heavily armed legislation enforcement personnel have been additionally seen in Durham, Maine, which Sauschuck mentioned was a results of a number of “911 hang-up calls”
“Hang-up calls happen on a regular basis. Depending on where they are, you may go ‘Okay, wait a second.’ And then we had a second call. And then there was a sheriff’s deputy that responded to the scene and then ultimately did not answer their radio,” he mentioned. “Officers did respond, make sure that he was safe, the scene was safe, and they moved on.”
The shelter-in-place orders disrupted life for the roughly 48 hours they have been in place, largely retaining eating places, outlets, comfort shops, and different companies closed as police stored up their seek for Card.
Sauschuck mentioned he understood that shelter-in-place orders might have a destructive affect on residents.
“We had very pointed threats early on (in) reference to these locations, and nothing specific since then,” he mentioned.
Sauschuck mentioned investigators discovered a be aware at one of many residences they searched however declined to supply extra particulars about its contents.
“I’m not prepared to really talk about what that included. And I think that’s probably, again, a common sense answer because that does involve is there a mindset here, is there motive, what did that entail? So we’ll definitely continue to work on that and when we can release it, we certainly will,” he mentioned.
The two capturing incidents Wednesday occurred solely minutes aside and FBI investigators initially interviewed round 70 witnesses that evening, Sauschuck mentioned.
Police mentioned they first acquired a 911 name at 6:56 p.m. for a male capturing a firearm at Just-In-Time Recreation. Only minutes later, at 7:08 p.m., police acquired a number of 911 requires an energetic shooter inside Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant.
Sauschuck mentioned police have been on each scenes inside minutes of the calls. Plainclothes officers who have been capturing at a variety down the road from Just-In-Time Recreation arrived on the bowling alley only a minute after the decision got here in, he mentioned.
“They don’t have radios, they weren’t in uniform, they hear it as they’re at the range, they respond to the address immediately, and then they address the threat and clear the building,” he mentioned.
Seven folks have been killed at Just-In-Time Recreation, one feminine and 6 males, from gunshot wounds, Maine State Police Col. William Ross mentioned Thursday. Seven males have been killed inside Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant and one male outdoors the institution was additionally killed, Ross mentioned.
The arrest warrant for Card might later embrace extra homicide counts, Ross mentioned Thursday.
Sauschuck mentioned Friday that prosecutors with Attorney General Aaron Frey’s workplace have been attempting to finish the remainder of the homicide warrants “in a timely fashion now that those individuals had been identified and the families notified.”
A spokesperson for Frey’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
“I’ll have that answer for you tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock, for sure,” Sauschuck mentioned, referencing a briefing scheduled for Saturday morning.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”